Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
A slab geometry, in which ferroelectric is inserted between two “cladding” layers with a microstrip electrode placed on top, is proposed as a way to integrate the properties of ferroelectric materials into microwave components. This structure distributes the propagating microwave fields between the ferroelectric and the cladding, so that the microwave dielectric constant is a weighted average of the dielectric constants of the two materials. It is shown that this geometry drastically reduces dissipation due to dielectric losses in the ferroelectric. In addition, by applying a dc bias to the microstrip line, the dielectric constant of the ferroelectric layer can be varied and with it the microwave properties of the structure.